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ADDRESSES 
delivered before the Com- 
mandery of the State of 
New York, Military Order 
of the Loyal Legion of the 
United States, at the regular 
meeting held Eehruary 3,. 
1909, at Delmonico's, in 
observance of the One 
Hundredth Anniversary of 
the birth of President 
ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



1 



prcsibcnt Hbrabain ILincoUi 



i 



Gcncnil .iiison G. McCook. Senior I'ice-Conniniiuicr, cuininauding, 
presided, and spoke as follozi.'s: 

Since the organization of this Commandery two Commanders have died 
in office, Ulysses S. Grant, in July, 1885, and Joseph B. Coghlan, in Decem- 
ber, 1908. The sudden death of Admiral Coghlan was not only a shock to 
all of us, but thereby another distinguished name has been placed on the 
roll of our honored dead. His life was an active and useful one. He served 
the country with gallantry and distinction in war and in peace for over 
forty years. He was devoted to the interests of this Commandery and to 
the charitable and patriotic purposes for which the Loyal Legion was es- 
tablished. He was a loyal friend and as manly and lovable a gentleman as 
I have ever known. 

A delegation from this Commandery accompanied 'his body to 
Washington and he is buried in historic Arlington, by the side of thou- 
sands of his comrades who died for the Union, and not far from another 
well-beloved member of this Commandery, General Martin T. McAIahon. 

He was buried with the honors due his rank and station. The guns 
of Fort Meyer fired an artillery salute, a company of marines fired three 
volleys over his grave, and when taps were sounded there were few 
dry eyes among those who were there to do honor to their commander 
and friend. 

Immediately after the return o^f the delegation the Board of Officers 
convened and a committee was appointed consisting of General Hub- 
bard, Captain James Parker and Paymaster Barton to prepare resolu- 
tions in regard to our former commander. 

General Hubbard is here and T ask him to read the resolutions to 
the Commandery. 

General Hubbard read the following report : 

The New York Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal 
Legion has dedicated this evening to the commemoration of the birth 
and life of Abraham Lincoln. It is fitting that it should at the same 
time record its affectionate remembrances of that other L^nion loving 
native of Kentucky and citizen of the United States, its late Commander, 
Rear Admjral Joseph B. Coghlan, U. S. Nav\', who died since its last 
meeting and who like his great predecessors, Farragut and Grant, held 
at the time of his death the highest office of the Commandery. 

Joseph B. Coghlan was born in Frankfort, Kentucky, December 19, 
1844, and on September 27, i860, when less than sixteen years of age, 
was appointed Midshipman from the Eighth District of Illinois, and 
sent to the U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. On May 
28, 1863, his class was ordered to sea, a year in advance of the usual 
time, and he was commissioned Ensign. On July 20th he was ordered 
to duty on the "Sacramento" and served on her until August 17, 1865. 
During this last interval, that vessel was actively engaged in pursuit 
of the Confederate cruiser "Alabama" and arrived off Cherbourg only 
a few days after the "Kearsage" had destroyed that famous vessel. 
September 19, 1865, he was assigned to duty on the old steam Sloop- 



of-\var "Brooklyn''; ^March 8, 1866, was commissioned Master; Novem- 
ber 10, 1866, promoted Lieutenant; ^Nlarch 12, 1868, promoted Lieutenant- 
Commander. From this time until February, 1882, his duties were those 
of naval officers of his rank in time of peace. He served on the U. S. S. 
"Portsmouth" in 1868; on the "Richmond"' from 1869 to 1871 ; in com- 
mand of the "Saugus" in 1875 and 1876; as Executive of the "Dictator'' 
in 1876; on the "Colorado'" in 1877; as Executive of the "Monongahela" 
in 1878 and 1879; as Executive of the "Independence," 1879 to 1882. In 
intervals between his service on these vessels he was assigned to va- 
rious shore duties at League Island, at the Hydrographic office and 
elsewhere. 

While Lieutenant-Commander he wrote a savage letter to an old 
clerk in the Navy Department, for which he was tried by Court Mar- 
tial, and punished by suspension, April 22, 1876, for one year and to 
retain his then number on the list of Lieutenant-Commanders. The 
offence was a mere outbreak of high temper and involved nothing dis- 
honorable ; and on April 14, 1902, the President granted a pardon which 
restored him, then Rear-Admiral, to the position on the Navy list that 
he had lost by sentence of the Court Martial. This restoration met 
with the unanimous approval of the gallant officer"s friends and brother 
officers. 

On the 4th of February, 1882, he was promoted Commander; on 
August 4, 1883, he was ordered to command L^. S. S. "Adams" and 
served on her until September 8. 1884. On the 23rd of August, 1888, 
he was ordered to command the "Alohican," on which vessel he served 
until January 23, 1890. November 18, 1896, he was promoted Captain. 

On March 25, 1897, he was ordered to command the "Raleigh." 
Under his command that vessel took part in the battle of Manila Ba3% 
as one of Commodore George Dewey's squadron, on May I, 1898. 

On June 10, 1898, Captain Coghlan was "advanced six numbers in 
grade for eminent and conspicuous conduct in battle on ]May i, 1898, 
while in command of the L^. S. S. 'Raleigh,' during the battle of Ma- 
nila Bay." 

From this time his health was impaired, but lie so recovered that, on 
April II, 1902, he was promoted Rear Admiral. In May, 1902, he was 
ordered as second in command of the North Atlantic Squadron, on 
board the "Brooklyn" as his flag-ship. On September 17, 1902, he shifted 
his flag to Dewey's old flag-ship, the "Olympia," and served on her 
until March 21, 1904. On September 23, 1904. he became the Com- 
mander of the New York Navy Yard, where he remained until his re- 
tirement for age, and, after a few months' further service, left active 
duties as an officer of the Navy forever. 

Rear Admiral Coghlan was elected Commander of the Command- 
ery of the State of New York, of the Military Order of the Loyal 
Legion, at the May meeting, 1907; and re-elected at the May meeting 
of 1908. 

He died at his home in New Rochelle, New York, on December 5, 
1908, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. 

His conspicuous and efficient service, merely suggested in this brief 
recital, deserved and won tlic approving recognition of his brother offi- 
cers and of his country. 

In the genial popular characteristics of life he was pre-eminent. He 
was a distinguished example of the Scriptural statement that, "A Merry 
heart doeth good like a nxcdicine." No one could be brought into rela- 
tions with him, without becoming at once attracted to him personally. 

6 



As a speaker on social occasions, he was inimitable. His recital of 
the "Hoch der Raiser" lifted that bit of wit into a worldwide promi- 
nence; though it had been recited quite a long time before at a meeting 
of the "Society of the Army of the Tennessee,'' at Milwaukee, October, 
1897. In all his addresses on such occasions he proved himself to be 
well described in Shakespeare's words : "He was a fellow of infinite 
jest; and of a most excellent fancy." 

He will be greatly missed, not only b}' his comrades of this Com- 
mandery, and his naval friends, but by a multitude of others who have 
been charmed by his wit and pleasing thoughts most fitly uttered. 

As illustrative of the estimation in which he was held by those over 
whom he was set, the following is copied from a resolution adopted by 
the Master Workmen of the New York Navy Yard : 

"During his career as an officer, the men always found him a most 
fair-minded, courteous and just Commander, and we felt as if he was 
our personal friend and his memory has been made dear to us by his 
sterling qualities, and we believe and feel that we have been benefited 
by having come in contact with such a noble life, and that our country 
has lost a most gallant and courageous commanding officer." 

We cannot better close our report than by quotation of the fol- 
lowing lines : 

The barge is at the gangway. 

An officer mans each oar, 
For the voyage of life is ended. 
The Admiral goes ashore. 

Ashore to the rest of the warrior. 

Ashore from life's storm}' sea. 
Where the Captain of All the Navies, 

Will welcome him on the quay. 

And we who knew him and loved him. 
Will miss the firm clasp of his hand. 

The happy, friendly greeting. 
The ringing tone of command. 

Man the side in silence. 

While the parting cannon roar, 
A gallant gentleman leaves us. 

The Admiral goes ashore. 

Resolved, That this minute be entered on the records of the Com- 
mandery and that a copy be transmitted to the widow and son of our 
late Commander. 

The report was adopted by a rising vote. 



General McCook : As all of you know, the T2th of this month 
will be the one hundredth anniversary of the ])irth of Abraham Lincoln. 
By the action of Congress, of many State Legislatures and municipal 
authorities and by general consent of the people, the event will be cele- 
brated throughout the country in a way worthy of the nation he did 
so much to save. 



While it was deemed impracticable to postpone our regular meeting 
until the 12th, it is especially fitting that this Commandery, made up 
largely of veterans of the war, should take part in the celebration by 
making to-night a distinctively Lincoln night. 

There are many good reasons for this action. Mr. Lincoln died 
on the 15th of April, 1865. and on that same day the initial steps were tak- 
en in Philadelphia, to organize the Loyal Legion of which we are a part. 
Within the next few days thousands of persons will listen to eloquent 
orations in regard to the life and services of the great President, but 
none of them can have the same deep personal interest in the man and 
his career, as the gray-haired men who, nearly half a century ago, 
served in the Army and the Navy of the Union in the war for its 
maintenance. [Applause.] 

To us Air. Lincoln is much more than a great historic figure. It 
was his voice that called us into the service; and although our Com- 
mander-in-Chief he was our sympathetic friend and comrade through 
the dangers and privations of the long and trying struggle. Some of 
us heard him address the people froni the platform. Some of us saw 
him and heard him on the 4th of March, 1861, when, from the east 
front of the Capitol, he took the oath as President to "preserve, pro- 
tect and defend the Constitution of the United States." Some of us have 
had the honor of shaking him by the hand, and looking into his deep 
eyes and his kind and thoughtful face ; many of us have seen him in 
camp and field when he inspected or reviewed the commands to which 
we were attached, while all of us can recall the pride and satisfaction 
with which we read his inspired appeals to the conscience, the courage 
and the patriotism of the people. 

You have before you to-night as a souvenir of this meeting one 
of these appeals made on a great battlefield of the war. In the opinion 
of competent judges, ni depth of feeling and beauty of expression it 
ranks with the best specimens of eloquence in either ancient or modern 
times, and nothing, perhaps, can ever take the place of the Gettysburg 
address in the hearts and minds of the American people. In the light, 
however, of modern attempts to place the responsibility for actual hos- 
tilities upon the Government of which Mr. Lincoln was the head, it 
may not be inopportune to refer, very briefly, to another and earlier 
address, in which he made an impressive appeal to the men of the 
South for peace and for the LTnion. 

Seven States had already formally seceded from the Union and 
organized a provisional Confederate Government at Montgomery, Ala- 
bama. Forts, arsenals, dock-yards, custom-houses and post-offices, all 
the property of the L^nited States, had been seized and their contents 
either destroyed or confiscated; while armies were being raised or 
tendered to maintain the rebellion by force. The country was waiting 
with an anxiety which you well recall, to hear what response was to 
be made to these acts and threats, by the untried man about to be 
clothed with the responsibilities of the Presidential office. There was 
no precedent to guide him, and many believed that longer delay to use 
all the powers of the Government to maintain its authority, meant the 
destruction of our institutions. Not so, however, thought the patient 
and peace-loving Abraham Lincoln to whom the preservation of the 
Union was paramount to all other considerations, for in words that 
will live as Jong as our language endures he concluded his first inau- 
gural by saying: 



"In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, 
is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail 
you. You can have no conflict without yourselves being the aggress- 
ors. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though 
passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. 
The mystic chords of memory stretching from every battlefield and pa- 
triot grave to ever\- living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, 
will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely 
they will be, by the better angels of our nature." 

You know how this appeal was disregarded, and what followed 
when on April 12, 1861, the first rebel shell exploded over 1^'ort Sumter 
and aroused the country from its dream of peace. 

From that date and until the end of the war we were part of the 
force called into existence to aid in the work to which Mr. Lincoln's 
life was devoted. Very properly, therefore, we meet to-night to do 
honor to his memory; for it is no exaggeration, I think, to say, that 
under God he was largely instrumental in saving the Republic. Ines- 
timable as were his services to liberty and to the Union, we cannot 
think of him without also recalling our own connection with the mighty 
struggle in which he was the principal figure; for even to-night the 
"mystic chords of memory" carry us back to the battlefields of the war, 
to the "patriot graves" of our gallant dead and to the days long past, 
when, young and strong and full of life and hope, we stood by the 
side of Abraham Lincoln in defence of the Union of these States. 

And now I feel almost like apologizing for having detained you as 
long as I have from hearing the gentlemen who have been especially 
invited to address you. There are four of them, all well known to 
you and to the Commandery at large, and I am sure that all of you will 
be repaid if you will remain until the last man speaks. 

It is hardly necessary for me to introduce to you the first speaker. 
Most of you know him, perhaps all of you know him personally. For 
many years he was our Commander. He has a reputation as a writer 
and speaker not only national, but international, and I therefore take 
great pleasure not in formally introducing General Porter, but suggesting 
that he is here to talk to us for awhile in regard to Mr. Lincoln. 



a^^rc00 of (Scncral Horace iporter 



Mr. Commander and Companions : 

At the breaking out of the Civil War there was a man with South- 
ern sympathies who said he would not hang out a Union flag, that he 
was opposed to the war. A large body of patriotic people surrounded 
his house and this demonstration induced him to change his mind 
very rapidly. He then put his head out of the window and cried, 
"Gentlemen, I am convinced, and I now want to pledge you my word 
that I am in favor of this war and the next." 

Now when your committee came to me they convinced me that I 
should come here and speak to you to-night, and I said, "Yes, and I 
will pledge you my word to come to this centennial and the next." 
[Laughter.] • 

The life of Abraham Lincoln has always seemed to me to read 
more like romance than reality. It is more like a fabled tale of ancient 
days than the story of a plain American citizen of the nineteenth cen- 
tury. As light and shade produce the most attractive features of a 
picture, so the singular contrast, the strange vicissitudes in the life of 
this man surround him with an interest that attaches to but few charac- 
ters in history. At one time we hear of him sitting in the log cabin 
in which he was born, struggling b}' the light of a pine knot torch 
to read the English grammar and the two or three other books that 
he had been able to obtain. At another time delivering addresses which 
have been pronounced throughout the world masterpieces of human elo- 
quence. At one time we see him on his jaded horse jogging along through 
the mud and rain, from one court house to another, trying insignificant 
cases before county judges. At another time wielding the helm of state 
of the greatest of nations and giving new interpretations to the most 
intricate questions of international law. These are some of the features 
of his remarkable career that appeal to the imagination, excite men's 
wonder and fascinate all who read the story of his life. 

He sprung from that class that he constantly referred to as the 
"plain people." He always possessed their affection ; and always had 
an abiding faith in them. Even when he wore the robes of a master 
he forgot not that he was still the servant of the people. He believed 
that governments were made for the people and not the people for 
governments. Throughout his career he simply did his duty and trusted 
to history for his mede of praise. The more history discusses him the 
more brilliant becomes the lustre of his name. His record is like a 
torch — the more it is shaken the brighter it burns. [Applause.] 

If at the height of his power he had been jeered at on account of 
his humble origin he might well have replied in the words of the 
French marshal who had risen from a private in the ranks to a duke- 
dom when the haughty nobles of Vienna refused to associate with him: 
"I am an ancestor; you are only descendants." [Laughter.] 

Abraham Lincoln possessed in a remarkable degree that most un- 
common of all virtues, common sense. With him there was no posing 
for effect, no attitudinizing in public, no mawkish sentimentality, no in- 
dulgence in mock heroics. There was none of that puppyism so often 

10 



bred by power, and none ot that dogmatism that Dr. Johnson said 
was only puppyism grown to maturity. [Laughter.] 

He did not want to ride in a gilded chariot of power, the dust from 
whose wheels would dazzle and blind his followers. He preferred to 
trudge along on foot so that all the people could march abreast with 
him. While his mind was one great storehouse of useful information, 
he laid no claim to any knowledge he did not possess. He seemed to 
feel with Addison that pedantry in learning is like hypocracy in re- 
ligion, a form of knowledge without the power of it. 

He had great tact in holding his friends, in convincing those who 
did not agree with him and often in winning over political opponents, 
but he wasted no time on the absolutely recalcitrant. He had no part 
nor lot with those men of mental malformation who are educated be- 
yond their intellect. [Laughter and applause.] 

He never wasted any time in trying to massage the back of a po- 
litical porcupine. [Laughter.] To use his own words, it was as dis- 
couraging as trying to shovel fieas across a barnyard. [Laughter.] 

I have been thinking to-night how few there are left who knew 
Abraham Lincoln personally and who had converse with him. Why, 
his contemporaries have fallen like autumnal leaves. 

I shall never forget — it is indelibly engraved upon my memory — 
the first time I had the privilege of looking upon the features and 
hearing the voice of that remarkable man. It was an historic occasion. It 
was upon the occasion of his first meeting with General "Grant. Before this 
they had corresponded ; their letters, at first official, afterwards l?ecame 
more intimate and familiar until they had learned to have that respect for 
each other which is based upon perfect confidence. On the Sth of 
March, 1864. General Grant arrived in Washington in the evening with his 
stafY, coming from the West, having been summoned by the Government to 
receive his commission of Lieutenant General, a rank which had been 
created for him, and take command of all the armies. Going to 
Willard's Hotel, with his accustomed modesty he simply wrote his 
name on the register "U. S. Grant, Illinois." He heard that there 
was a reception at the White House given by Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln 
and he thought it was his duty to go immediately to see them and pay 
his respects. Mr. Lincoln was receiving in the Blue Room as usual, 
with some of his cabinet oiificers standing near him, shaking hands 
cordially with the vast crowds that passed. About half-past nine 
o'clock there was a commotion at the entrance door. It attracted Mr. 
Lincoln's attention. He saw a man walking slowly towards him. and 
recognizing him at once by the photographs he had seen of him. reached 
out his long arm. seized General Grant by the hand, drew him up close to 
him and cried out to Mrs. Lincoln. "What a surprise, what a delight, 
why, here is General Grant!" They formed a remarkable contrast. Mr. 
Lincoln's hair was unkempt, he wore a turned down collar two sizes 
too large, the motion of his long arms and legs was awkward, but there 
was nothing that bordered on the grotesque. He always had a certain 
amount of dignity in his bearing. Lincoln was six feet four inches 
in height, Grant five feet eight inches : Lincoln was fifty-five years of 
age. Grant forty-two. Both in full possession of all their mental and 
physical faculties. It was an inspiring sight to watch this first meeting 
of the illustrious Chief Magistrate of the nation and the victorious 
general. It was a fortunate thing for the Republic at that time that 
these two representatives of the cabinet and the camp into whose hands 
under Providence the destiny of the land had been placed had no am- 
bitions but their country's welfare, and who. throughout that death 

11 



struggle of the nation stood shoulder to shoulder like the men in the 
Greek phalanx of old, linking their shields together against a common 
foe, and teaching the world that it is time to abandon the path of 
ambition when it becomes so narrow that two cannot walk it abreast. 
[Applause.] They soon formed a close attachment for each other and 
three times Mr. Lincoln came down to the front to visit General Grant 
in his headquarters at City Point, in front of Petersburg and Rich- 
mond, and there they continued this friendship. At night Mr. Lincoln 
would sit around the camp fire with General Grant and his staff offi- 
cers. He sat in a camp chair — it was rather low and brought his knees 
up high — he crossed his legs, or rather he had a way of winding one 
leg around the other, and as the smoke of the fire would blow in his 
face he would brush it away with his large hand, and as we sat there 
and listened to the words of wit, wisdom and eloquence that fell from 
his lips, why those evenings became as enjoyable as the "Arabian Nights' 
Entertainment." 

Upon his first visit he said on arriving that he had come down prin- 
cipally to get away from the office-seekers; he hadn't enough offices to 
give them ; there were not enough holes for all the pegs, as he ex- 
pressed it. "The other daj^" he remarked, 'T had a little fever and 
a rash on the skin and I sent for the doctor. He said T think this 
is a case of the measles,' and I cried, 'good; at last I have got some- 
thing I can give to people.' " [Laughter.] 

His stories were not simply anecdotes ; they were more to point a 
moral than to adorn a tale; they were illustrations of his meaning; and 
they were always apt. What could have been more applicable than the 
very amusing story he told us in connection with the Trent affair? You 
know the Confederate emissaries, Mason and Slidell, were taken off 
the British passenger ship "Trent" by one of our war vessels. He 
remarked, "The English didn't give us time to turn around. We began 
to receive offensive and arbitrary dispatches at once. We hardly were 
given time to search for precedents in international law. It was very 
humiliating, but we had one big war on hand and we didn't want two 
at the same time. I said, 'Well, this will only react upon that govern- 
ment. She in the end will be the only one hurt.' " He continued, "It 
reminds me of the time in Sangamon County, Illinois, when a man came 
along and knocked at the door of a barber shop. It was locked. He 
knocked at the door of the house. The barber put his head out of 
the window and said, "Wlhat's up?' Tlie man answered, T am going to 
take my best girl to a ball to-night and I have a four days' growth of 
beard on my face, and I want you to come down and take it off.' 'I 
won't do it, the shop's closed,' cried the barber. Said the man, 'I have 
a six-shooter here that will put daylight through you if you don't come 
down quick.' He came down, seated the man in the chair, lathered 
his face, including the eyes, nose and mouth, and then bore down on 
him and cut a swath across the left cheek, taking off a pimple, two 
warts and a mole. Said the man in the chair, "Stranger, you must have 
been working in a stubble field — you appear to make everything level 
as you go.' The barber remarked, 'If this handle don't break I think I'll 
get away with what is there.' But the man had such hollow cheeks that 
the barber couldn't work the razor down into the valleys, and the in- 
genious idea occurred to him to put his finger in the man's mouth and 
press the cheek out. But the razor slipped, went through the cheek 
and cut the barber's finger. He drew it out. snapped off the blood, and 
cried, 'There, you lantern-jawed cuss, you have made me cut my finger.' 
[Laughter.] "Now," said Mr. Lincoln, "England has tried to lacerate 

12 



us somewhat, but in the end she will find she has only cut her own 
finger." [Laughter.] 

There was one thing that impressed me deeply on several occasions, 
the fact that Mr. Lincoln had the tenderest of all hearts and his sym- 
pathy went out to animals as well as to human beings. In his last visit 
to our camp, just before we marched out on the Appomattox campaign, 
I was sitting in the Adjutant's tent when Mr. Lincoln came to see if 
some expected dispatches from Washington had arrived. He looked 
down on the floor and saw crawling around there three little kittens. 
Their mother had died three days before and they were mewing pite- 
ously. He forgot all about the dispatches, sat down on a camp stool 
and tenderly picked up those little waifs, laid them in his lap, drew 
the skirts of his coat around them to keep them warm, wiped their eyes 
with his handkerchief and smoothed down their fur as they purred their 
gratitude. He said to the Adjutant General: "I hope you will take 
care of these poor little motherless waifs." Colonel Bowers replied : 
"I shall see that they are taken good care of, Mr. President, and well 
fed." "And be sure," said Mr. Lincoln, "that they have some milk three 
times a day." When we were all thinking about the movements of 
great armies and studying the science of destruction, it was a touching 
sight to see those three stray kittens ifondled by the hand that with a 
single stroke of the pen had struck the shackles from the limbs of four 
millions of bondsmen, and had signed the commissions of the illus- 
trious heroes of a great war. It was a trifling incident, but it spoke 
more loudly than many an important act of the tenderness of the great 
man's heart. [Applause.] 

He came down to camp just after he had I)een elected the second time. 
We were talking about the methods of election and about the electoral col- 
lege, when he said, "Well, the electoral college is the only college where 
they choose their own masters." 

In speaking to General Butler about General Grant's movements 
and the fact that he had never yielded up a foot of territory he had 
captured, Mr. Lincoln said, "Yes; when General Grant gets hold of a 
place he hangs on to it just as though he had inherited it." 

I came in one evening out after a rain to the camp fire, wiping ofif 
my sword blade to keep it from rusting. Mr. Lincoln stepped out oi 
his tent and remarked, "That is a very formidable looking weapon, but 
it is not as formidable as one I had occasion to see at one time in my 
life. I was coming home from a conference of lawyers in Louisville, 
after midnight, a bright moonlight night, when suddenly a fellow jumped 
out of a dark alley and pulled out a bowie knife. It looked to me to 
be three times as long as that sword. I don't really suppose it was. 
He flourished it in the moonlight and for about five minutes seerned 
to be trying to see how near he could come to cutting off my nose with- 
out quite doing it, and finally he cried, 'Stranger, can you lend me five 
dollars on that?' Well. I never got money out of my pocket as fast 
in my life. I handed him a bill and said, 'There is ten. Now, neighbor, 
put up your scythe.' " [Laughter.] 

Then he came down just after the successful assault on Fort Gil- 
man where the negro troops had distinguished themselves and attracted 
some attention. He said to General Grant, "I like the way the black 
boys have behaved and I think I ought to ride out to their camp to 
see them." So the General mounted with his staff to accompany him 
out to the camp of the colored troops. When he reached there the 
troops passed the word around and they rushed out in great numbers, 

13 



crying, "Dar's ole Massah Linkum I God bless him! Old Fader Ab- 
raham's a-comin', Hallalu!" And they laughed and cheered, and got 
down on their knees and prayed. Some fondled his horse and others 
ran to hunt up their comrades and tell them they had kissed the hem 
of his garment. Mr. Lincoln sat on his horse, his head uncovered, the 
tears running down their cheeks. It was a pathetic sight to see the 
homage paid by the liberated to the great liberator. 

In riding home he said, "When we started to raise the first colored 
regiments you know there was a great deal of adverse criticism, but 
I said to our people 'As long as we are trying to get every able-bodied 
man down tr> the front to save the life of this nation, I guess we had 
better be a little color blind.' " He continued, "I think I can express 
my appreciation of what the black boys have done here something 
after the fashion of an old-time Abolitionist in Chicago. Friends brought 
him in from the country and took him to see Forrest playing 'Othello.' 
He didn't know it was a white man blacked up, and when they got out 
he said, 'Well, all sectional prejudice aside, and making due allowance 
for my partiality for the race, durn me if I don't think the nigger held 
his own with any on 'em.' " [Laughter.] 

Now I must recount only one more of his illustrations — not anec- 
dotes — because it amused us greatly one night. I happened to have a 
grain of the new powder for the big guns in my hands as he walked by. 
He looked at it and asked, "What is that?" "A grain of powder," I 
replied. It was about as big as a walnut. He took it in his hand, 
looked at it and said, "That is a good deal bigger than the grains of 
powder we used to have out in Sangamon County when I was a boy. 
Before the newspapers were published and before there was much ad- 
vertising in print the little merchants used to do a little free advertising 
before the preacher arrived at the cross-roads church. One night a man 
got up, he was a powder merchant, and said, 'Brethren, before the 
arrival of the preacher I would just like to say that I have received a 
new invoice of sportin' powder, and the grains are so small you can 
scarcely see 'em with the naked eye and so polished you can stand in 
front of 'em and part your hair just like you was before a looking 
glass.' Tliere was a rival powder merchant there who rose up, boiling 
over with jealousy, and said, 'Brethren, I hope you won't believe a word 
Brother Smith says about that powder. I have been down to his store 
and seen it for myself, and every grain is as big as a lump of stone 
coal and I pledge you my word that any one here could put a barrel 
of that powder on his shoulder and march square through hell without 
any danger of an explosion.'" [Laughter.] 

There will be two names always inseparable in American history — 
Washington and Lincoln. And by the manner in which biographers 
dwell upon trifling matters you would be led to believe from their 
writing that one spent his whole life in cutting down trees and the other 
in splitting them up into rails. [Laughter.] 

The dififcrence between them was that Washington never could tell 
a story and Lincoln always could. But his stories possessed the proper 
geometrical requisites of excellence — they were never too long and never 
too broad. [Applause.] I -aid the stories were illustrations. His wit 
and humor were the safety valves which gave him relief when he was 
burdened with the great resnonsihilities of the nation. I think it had 
a tendency to prolong his life. He had the true idea of wit — talk- 
ing in fun and thinking in earnest. Why, he could cut the sting from 
the keenest criticism with a pleasantry and guild disappointment with 

14 



a joke. He knew tliat in speaking wit is to eloquence what in music 
melody is to harmony. 

But his heart was not always attuned to mirth. Its chords were 
often set to strains of sadness. The appalling losses in the field, the 
enemies in the rear as well as in front, the coffers in the treasury well- 
nigh drained, the foreign complications threatened, were enough to 
overwhelm an ordinary man. People reviled and slandered him ; they 
could not understand him. His wit was too subtle, his philosophy was 
too logical, his politics too advanced. It passed their understanding. 
He had to learn what most men in public life have had to learn, that 
all hours wound, the last one kills, and that success is like the sunshine, 
it brings forth the vipers. But even when the gloom was darkest he 
never faltered. Confident of tlie righteousness of his cause, he always 
had the courage of his conviction. He had that sublime faith that can 
leave the efforts to man. the results to God. It was a faith that could 
see in the storm cloud a bow of promise, a faith that could hear in the 
discords of the present the harmonies of the future, a faith that can 
be likened only to that of the Christian in his Saviour. [Applause.] 

Marvelous man ! He was a Hercules, not an Adonis. He was the 
great example set for those who were to follow him. Marvelous man ! 
We fail to find another in all the annals of history whose nature was so 
gentle, whose life had been so peaceful, who was reared in the cabinet 
and not the camp, and yet who was called upon to martial the armed 
hosts of an aroused people and for four long years to direct a fierce, a 
relentless, a bloody fractricidal war. 

It seldom falls to the lot of man to strike the shackles from a race 
of bondmen, to die the death of a revered martyr with his robes of 
office still about him, his heart at peace with his fellow man, his soul 
at peace with God, his country restored to peace within her borders 
and to peace with all the world. [Applause.] 

We did not bury him in a Roman Pantheon, an Escurial, a Wal- 
halla, a domed St. Paul's or a cloistered Westminster. We gave him 
nobler sepulture; we laid him to rest in the bosom of the soil his 
efforts had saved. Future ages will pause to read the inscription on 
his tomb, and the praises and the prayers of a redeemed and regenerated 
people will ascend from that consecrated spot as incense arises from 
holy places, pointing out even to the angels in Heaven where rest the 
ashes of him who had filled to the very full the largest measure of human 
greatness, and covered the earth with his renown. [Applause.] 

For a time he seemed to be too close to us. He was not yet in 
the proper focus to be clearly seen. Now, with the lapse of time, he 
has receded to the proper distance at which we can view perfectly his 
great qualities, and see them in all their beattty and symmetry. A tree 
is best measured when it is down. He was taken away from us forty- 
four years ago. We were then called upon to bid farewell to a leader 
crowned with the sublimity of martyrdom, saviour of the Republic, 
liberator of a race, whose true sepulchre is the hearts of the American 
people. 

General McCook : We have with us to-night a gentleman who 
knew Mr. Lincoln doubtless before any other man in this room, at all 
events knew him well and intimately before he became the great figure 
that he was two or three years afterwards. 

The campaign in 1858 in Illinois was the campaign perhaps that de- 
veloped Mr. Lincoln into a national figure and made him a possible can- 
didate for President. He had a local reputation, of course. He had 

15 



been a member of the Legislature of Illinois, a member of the House 
of Representatives in Congress for one term, and a defeated candidate 
for Senator, but until his contest with Stephen A. Douglass, familiarly 
called the "Little Giant," Mr. Lincoln was not generally known through- 
out the LInited States. 

The debate was watched by the whole country with very great in- 
terest, for Mr. Douglass was an adroit and clever speaker and a man 
thoroughly familiar with public afifairs. He won the election to the Sen- 
atorship, but with the end of the campaign Mr. Lincoln's position in 
his own party was so well established, that two years afterwards his 
nomination for the Presidency followed. 

During this campaign Mr. Lincoln had with him a young reporter, 
Mr. Horace White, who is with us to-night. Long and intimately iden- 
tified with the literary interests of the country and perfectly familiar 
with Mr. Lincoln's whole career, what he has to say will be of unusual 
interest. I take great pleasure in introducirg him to you. [Applause.] 



16 



1Rcinarf^0 of Iborace llXUbitc 



What happened to this country because Abraham Lincohi was elected 
President in i860 has been told many times by many men, and will 
be told through many generations to come. What would have hap- 
pened if he had not been elected is largely a matter of conjecture, yet 
it is not devoid of interest. It is the theme to which I shall invite 
your attention briefly. I am> moved to do so by reading in the Cen- 
tury Magazine for the present month a few letters, hitherto unpub- 
lished, written by Lincoln to Senator Trumbull between the time of 
his election and that of his inauguration. This period of four months 
was the critical period in his life and in our nation's history. 

Wlien the ballot boxes were closed and the votes counted on the 
6th of November, i860, the question whether slavery should be allowed 
to enter the new territories west of the Missouri River (which was 
the very- thing supposed to have been decided by the election), started 
up afresh, and assumed new and overwhelming importance when it 
was flanked by the threat of secession. Mr. Lincoln was the steadying 
influence and chief barrier against any surrender of the principles on 
which he had been elected. If he had failed no other barrier would 
have been of any avail whatever. 

To anybody looking back at the Republican National Convention 
of i860, it must be plain that there were only two men who had any 
■chance of being nominated for President. 

These were Lincoln and Seward. I was present at the Convention 
as a spectator and I knew this fact at the time, but it seemed to me at 
the beginning that Seward's chances were the best. One-third of the 
delegates of Illinois preferred him and expected to vote for him after 
a few complimentary ballots for Lincoln. If there had been no Lincoln 
in the field Seward would certainly have been nominated and then the 
course of history would have been very different from what it was, 
for if Seward had been nominated and elected there would have been 
no forcible opposition to the withdrawal of such States as then desired 
to secede. And as a consequence the Republican party would have 
been rent in twain and disabled from making effectual resistance to 
other demands of the South. 

It was Seward's conviction that the policy of non-coercion would 
have quieted the secession movement in the Border States and that the 
Gulf States would, after a while, have returned to the LTnion like re- 
pentant prodigal sons. His proposal to Lincoln to seek a quarrel with 
four European nations, who had done us no harm, in order to arouse 
a feeling of Americanism in the Confederate States, was an outgrowth 
of this conviction. It was an indenfensible proposition, akin to that 
which prompted Bismarck to make use of France as an anvil on which 
to hammer and weld Germany together, but it was not an unpatriotic 
one, since it was bottomed on a desire to preserve the Union without 
civil war. 

Traces of this idea can be found in the speeches of Jefferson Davis 
in the Senate before his State seceded. Davis was not an original 
secessionist. He would have preferred that the secession movement 
-should not extend beyond South Carolina and to that end he used all his 

17 



influence against the coercion of that State because coercion of one 
would inflame the others. It is not impossible that Seward derived 
his idea from Davis, or more probably was confirmed by him in an 
idea to which he was previously inclined. 

As early as December ii, Lincoln wrote a letter to Congressman 
Wm. Kellogg, of Illinois, who had shown some signs of an intention 
to support the Crittenden Compromise. In this letter Lincoln said : 
"Entertain no proposition for a compromise in regard to the extension 
of slavery. The instant you do, they have us under again; all our 
labor is lost, and sooner or later must be done over." 

Four days afterwards he wrote to John A. Gilmer, an eminent 
statesman of North Carolina, in reply to a letter received from him : 
"Is it desired that I shall shift the ground on which I have been elected? 
I cannot do it. On the territorial question I am inflexible, as you see 
my position in the book. On that there is a difference between you 
and us, and it is the only substantial difference. You think slavery is 
right, and ought to be extended ; we think it is wrong and ought to be 
restricted. For this neither has any just occasion to be angry with the 
other." 

Two days later (December 17th) he wrote to Thurlow Weed, who 
was advocating the Crittenden Compromise in his newspaper, that that 
Compromise "would lose us everything that we gain by the election; 
that filibustering for all South of us and making slave States of it 
would follow, in spite of us, in either case." 

The Century Magazine for February contains the following letter: 
■■Sprix(;fikld, III., December 24, 1860. 
''Hon. Lyman Trumbull: 

"My dear Sir — Dispatches have come here two days in succession 
that the forts in South Carolina will be surrendered by order, or con- 
sent, at least, of the President. I can scarceh- believe this, but if it is- 
true, I will, if our friends in Washington concur, announce publicly 
at once that they are to be retaken after the inauguration. This will 
give the Union men a rallying cry, and preparations will proceed some- 
what on this side as well as on the other. Ynurs as ever, 

■"A. LixcoLX."' 

I have myself discovered a still later saying of Lincoln during this 
momentous interval. A letter from Dr. William Jayne to Trumbull, 
dated Springfield, January 28, 1861, says that Governor Yates had re- 
ceived telegraph dispatches from the Governors of Ohio and Indiana 
asking whether Illinois would appoint peace commissioners in response 
to a call sent out by the Governor of Virginia to meet at Washington 
on the 4fh of February. "Lincoln," he continued, "advised Yates not 
to take any action at present. He said he would rather be hanged by 
the neck till he was dead on the steps of the Capitol than buy or beg 
a peaceful inauguration." 

The pages of the Congressional Globe of i86o-'6i make the two 
most intensely interesting political volumes in our country's history. 
They embrace the last words that the North and South had to say 
to each other before the doors of the temple of Janus were thrown 
open to the Civil War. As the moment of parting approached the- 

18 



language became plainer, and its most marked characteristic was not 
.anger, not hatred between the disputants, but failure to understand each 
other. It was as though the men on either side were looking at an 
object through glasses of dififerent color, or speaking different languages, 
or worshipping different gods. 

Forty-four years have passed away since the Civil War came to 
an end and we are now able to take a dispassionate view of the ques- 
tion in dispute. The people of the South are now generally agreed 
that the institution of slavery was a direful curse to both races. We 
■of the North must confess that there was considerable foundation for 
the asserted right of States to secede. Although the Constitution did 
in distinct terms make the Federal Government supreme, it was not 
so understood by the people either North or South at first. Particular- 
ism prevailed everywhere at the beginning. Nationalism was an after 
growth and a slow growth proceeding mainly from the habit into 
which people fell of finding their common centre of gravity at Wash- 
ington City and of viewing it as the place where the American name 
and fame were blazoned to the world. During the first half century of 
the Republic the North and South were changing coats from time to 
time, on the subject of State Rights and the right to secede, but mean- 
while the Constitution itself was working silently in the North to 
undermine the particularism of Jefferson and to strengthen the na- 
tionalism of Hamilton. It had accomplished its work in the early 
thirties, when it found its perfect expression in Webster's reply to 
Hayne. But the Southern people were just as firmly convinced that 
Hayne was the victor in that contest as the Northern people were that 
Webster was. The vast material interests bottomed on slavery offset 
and neutralized the unifying process in the South, while it continued 
its wholesome work in the North, and thus the clashing of ideas paved 
the way for the clash of arms. That the behavior of the slaveholders 
resulted from the circumstances in which they were placed and not 
from any innate deviltry is a fact now conceded by all impartial men. 
It was conceded by Lincoln both before the war and during the war, 
and this fact accounts for the affection bestowed upon him by South- 
ern hearts to-day. 

The question has been much discussed whether Crittenden's pro- 
posed amendment to the Constitution ought to have been adopted or 
not. The only plausible argument for adopting it would have been to 
prevent secession and civil war; and here lies a wide field for difference 
of opinion as to whether it would have prevented them or not. The 
chances are ten to one that it would not have been acceptable to the 
cotton-growing States. But if we admit that the compromise would 
have prevented secession for the time being, slavery would have still 
remained a festering sore and direful curse. All the elements of dis- 
cord that had been seething and bubbling like lava fires for forty years 
would have remained in full blast, except the single one of the terri- 
torial question, and that one would have contirued to burn in the North. 
Abolition societies would have multiplied. The underground railroad 
would have done more business than ever. Other John Browns might 
have arisen. All these things would have operated upon the active fears 
and hot temper of the South just as before. Both sides would have used 
the interval of mock peace to prepare for war, and the irrepressible 
■conflict would have come later. So the election of Lincoln decided that 
a war which was unavoidable should take place in 1861 instead of later, 
and that it should be fought by a united North instead of a divided one. 

19 



General McCook : It is impossible on this occasion not to recall 
the fact that, between the spring of 1865 and the autumn of 1901, three 
Presidents of the United States have been assassinated. These cowardly 
and brutal crimes shocked the world, but the fact remains that in this 
free country of ours, Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley have been murdered 
within thirty-five years. 

The first to fall was Mr. Lincoln, and we have here to-night an old 
member of the Commandery who was with him in a professional ca- 
pacity during his dying hours. Everything connected with the life and 
death of Mr. Lincoln is, of course, of great interest to us and to the 
country, and I take pleasure in introducing Dr. Leale, who will speak 
of his experience on that occasion. 




20 



Xincoln'8 Xast HJouvs 

36s Cbarles a. Icale, X>. ®. 

COPYRIGHT, 1909, BY CHARLES A. LEALE, M . D. 



Commander and Companions of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion 

of the United States : 

At the historic pageant in Washington, when the remains of Presi- 
dent Lincoln were being taken from the White House to the Capitol, 
a carriage immediately preceding the catafalque was assigned to me. 
Outside were the crowds, the martial music, but inside the carriage 
] was plunged in deep self-communion, until aroused by a gentle tap 
at the window of my carriage door. An ofificer of high rank put his 
head inside and exclaimed: "Dr. Leale, I would rather have done what 
you did to prolong the life of the President than to have accomplished 
my duties during the entire war." I shrank back at what he said, 
and for the first time realized the importance of it all. As soon as 
I returned to my private ofifice in the hospital, I drew down the win- 
dow-shade, locked the door, threw myself prostrate on the bare wood 
floor and asked for advice. The answer came as distinctly as if 
spoken by a human being present : "Forget it all." I visited our Surgeon 
General, Joseph K. Barnes, and asked his advice; he also said: "Cast 
it from your memory." 

On April 17, 1865, a New York newspaper reporter called at my 
army tent. I invited him in, and expressed my desire to forget all the 
recent sad events, and to occupy my mind with the exacting present 
and plans for the future. 

Recently, several of our Companions expressed the conviction, that 
history now demands, and that it is my duty to give the detailed facts 
of President Lincoln's death as I know them, and in compliance with 
their request, I this evening for the first time will read a paper on the 
subject. 

Xincolu'i? last H^ours 

One of the most cruel wars in the history of the world had nearly 
closed. 

The people of the LTnited States were rejoicing at the prospect of 
peace and returning happiness. President Lincoln, after the surrender 
of General Robert E. Lee, visited Richmond, Virginia, exposing him- 
self to great danger, and on his return delivered an address from the 
balcony of the White House. 

I was then a Commissioned Officer in the Medical Department 
of the United States Army, having been appointed from my native 
State, New York, and was on duty as Surgeon in charge of the Wounded 
Commissioned Officers' W^ard at the United States Army General Hos- 
pital, Armory Square, Washington, District of Columbia, where my 
professional duties were of the greatest importance and required con- 
stant and arduous attention. For a brief relief and a few moments 

21 



in the fresh air I started one evening for a short walk on Pennsylvania 
Avenue. There were crowds walking toward the President's residence. 
These I followed and arrived just at the commencement of President 
Lincoln's last public address to his people. From where I stood I 
could distinctly hear every word he uttered and I was profoundly im- 
pressed with his divine appearance as he stood in the rays of light, 
which penetrated the windows of the White House. 

The influence thus produced gave me an intense desire again to 
behold his face and study the characteristics of the "Savior of his 
Country." Therefore on the evening of April 14, 1865, after the com- 
pletion of my daily hospital duties, I told my Ward Master that I 
would be absent for a short time. As a very large number from the 
Armv stationed near Washington frequently visited the city, a genera) 
order was in force that none should be there without a special pass 
and all wearing uniform and out at night were subject to frequent 
challenge. To avoid this inconvenience officers stationed in Washing- 
ton generally removed all signs of their calling when off duty. I 
changed to civilian's dress and hurried to Ford's Theatre, where I 
had been told President Lincoln, General Grant, and Members of the 
Cabinet were to be present to see the play, "Our American Cousin." I 
arrived late at the theatre, 8.15 p. m., and requested a seat in the 
orchestra, whence I could view the occupants of the President's box, 
which on looking into the theatre, I saw had been beautifully decorated 
with American flags in honor of the occasion. As the building was 
crowded the last place vacant was in the dress circle. I was greatly 
disappointed, but accepted this seat, which was near the front on the 
same side and about 40 feet from the President's box, and soon be- 
came interested in the pleasing play. 

Suddenly there was a cheering welcome, the acting ceased tem- 
porarily out of respect to the entering Presidential party. Man\' in 
the audience rose to their feet in enthusiasm and vociferously cheered, 
while looking around. Turning, I saw in the aisle a few feet behind 
me. President Lincoln, Mrs. Lincoln, Major Rathbone and Miss Har- 
ris. Mrs. Lincoln smiled very happily in acknowledgment of the loyal 
greeting, gracefully curtsied several times and seemed to be overflowing 
with good cheer and thankfulness. I had the best opportunity to dis- 
tinctly see the full face of the President, as the light shone directly 
upon him. After he had walked a few feet he stopped for a mo- 
ment, looked upon the people he loved and acknowledged their 
salutations with a solemn bow. His face was perfectly stoical, his 
deep set eyes gave him a pathetically sad appearance. The audience 
seemed to be enthusiastically cheerful, but he alone looked peculiarly 
sorrowful, as he slowly walked with bowed head and drooping shoul- 
ders toward the box. I was looking at him as he took his last walk. 
TTne memory of that scene has never been eflfaced. The party was pre- 
ceded by a special usher, who opened the door of the box, stood to 
one side, and after all had entered closed tlie door and took a seat 
outside, where he could guard the entrance to the box. The play 
was resumed and mv attention was concentrated on the stage until I 
heard a disturbance at the door of the President's box. W^ith many 
others I looked in that direction, and saw a man endeavoring to per- 
suade the reluctant usher to admit him. At last he succeeded in gain- 
ing an entrance, after which the door was closed and the usher re- 
sumed his place. 

For a few moments all was quiet, and the play again held my at- 
tention until, suddenly, the report of a pistol was heard, and a short 



time after I saw a man in mid-air leaping from the President's box 
to the stage, brandishing in his hand a drawn dagger. His spur caught 
in the American flag festooned in front of the box, causing him to 
stumble when he struck the stage, and he fell on his hands and knees. 
He quickly regained the erect posture and hopped across the stage, 
flourishing his dagger, clearing the stage before him and dragging the 
foot of the leg. which was subsequently found to be broken, he dis- 
appeared behind the scene on the opposite side of the stage. Then 
followed cries that the President had been murdered, interspersed with 
cries of "Kill the murderer !" "Shoot him !" etc., from different parts 
of the building. The lights had been turned down, a general gloom 
was over all, and the panic-stricken audience were rushing toward the 
doors for exit and safety. 

I instantly arose and in response to cries for help and for a sur- 
geon, I crossed the aisle and vaulted over the seats in a direct line to 
the President's box, forcing my way through the excited crowd. The 
door of the box had been securely fastened on the inside to prevent 
anyone following the assassin before he had accomplished his cruel 
object and made his escape. The obstruction was with difficulty re- 
moved and I was the first to be admitted to the box. 

The usher having been told that I was an army surgeon, had lifted 
up his arm and had permitted me alone to enter. 

I passed in, not in the slightest degree knowing what I had to en- 
counter. At this moment, while in self-communion, the military com- 
mand: "Halt!" came to me, and in obedience to it I stood still in the 
box, having a full view of the four other occupants. Then came the 
advice : "Be calm \" and with the calmest deliberation and force of 
will I brought all my senses to their greatest activity and walked for- 
ward to my duty. 

Major Rathbone had bravely fought the assassin; his arm had 
been severely wounded and was bleeding. He came to me holding his 
wounded arm in the hand of the other, beseeching me to attend to his 
wound. I placed my hand under his chin, looking into his eyes an 
almost instantaneous glance revealed the fact that he was in no im- 
mediate danger, and in response to appeals from Mrs. Lincoln and 
Miss Harris, who were standing by the high-backed armchair in which 
President Lincoln sat, I went immediately to their assistance, saying 
I was a United States army surgeon. I grasped Mrs. Lincoln's out- 
stretched hand in mine, while she cried piteously to me, "Oh, Doctor! 
Is he dead? Can he recover? Will you take charge of him? Do 
what you can for him. Oh, my dear husband !" etc., etc. I sooth- 
ingly answered that we would do all that possibly could be done. 
While approaching the President, I asked a gentleman, who was at the 
door of the box, to procure some brandy and another to get some 
water. 

As I looked at the President, he appeared to be dead. His eyes 
were closed and his head had fallen forward. He was being held 
upright in his chair by Mrs. Lincoln, who was weeping bitterly. From 
his crouched down sitting posture it was evident that Mrs. Lincoln 
had instantly sprung to his aid after he had been wounded and had 
kept him from tumbling to the floor. By Mrs. Lincoln's courage, 
strength and energy the President was maintained in this upright po- 
sition during all the time that elapsed while Major Rathbone had 
bravely fought the assassin and removed the obstruction from the 
door of the box. 

•23 



I placed my finger on the President's right radial pulse but could 
perceive no movement of the artery. For the purpose of reviving him, 
if possible, we removed him from his chair to a recumbent position 
on the floor of the box, and as I held his head and shoulders while 
doing this, my hand came in contact with a clot of blood near his 
left shoulder. Remembering the flashing dagger in the hand of the 
assassin, and the severely bleeding wound of Major Rathbone, I sup- 
posed the President had been stabbed, and while kneeling on the floor 
over his head, with my eyes continuously watching the President's 
face, I asked a gentleman to cut the coat and shirt open from the neck 
to the elbow to enable me, if possible, to check the hemorrhage that 
I thought might take place from the subclavian artery or some other 
blood vessel. This was done with a dirk knife, but no wound was 
found there. I lifted his eyelids and saw evidence of a brain injury. 
I quickly passed the separated fingers of both hands through his 
blood matted hair to examine his head, and I discovered his mortal 
wound. The President had been shot in the back part of the head, 
behind the left ear. I easily removed the obstructing clot of blood 
from the wound, and this relieved the pressure on the brain. 

The assassin of President Lincoln had evidently carefully planned 
to shoot to produce instant death, as the wound he made was situated 
within two inches of the physiological point of selection, when instant 
death is desired. A Derringer pistol had been used, which had sent 
a large round ball on its awful mission through one of the thickest, 
hardest parts of the skull and into the brain. The history of surgery 
fails to record a recovery from such a fearful wound and I have never 
seen or heard of any other person with such a wound, and injury to 
the sinus of the brain and to the brain itself, who lived even for an 
hour. 

As the President did not then revive, I thought of the other mode 
of death, apnoea, and assumed my preferred position to revive by ar- 
tificial respiration. I knelt on the floor over the President, with a 
knee on each side of his pelvis and facing him. I leaned forward, 
opened his mouth and introduced two extended fingers of my right 
hand as far back as possible, and by pressing the base of his paralyzed 
tongue downward and outward, opened his larynx and made a free 
passage for air to enter the lungs. I placed an assistant at each of 
his arms to manipulate them in order to expand his thorax, then slowly 
to press the arms down by the side of the body, while I pressed the 
diaphragm upward: methods which caused air to be drawn in and 
forced out of his lungs. 

During the intermissions T also with the strong thumb and fingers 
of my right hand by intermittent sliding pressure under and beneath 
the ribs, stimulated the apex of the heart, and resorted to several 
other physiological methods. We repeated these motions a number of 
times before signs of recoverv from the profound shock worp nttained; 
then a feeble action of the heart and irregular breathing followed. 

Tlie effects of the shock were still manifest by such great pros- 
tration, that I was fearful of any extra agitation of the President's 
body, and became convinced that something more must be done to 
retain life. I leaned forcibly forward directly over his body, thorax to 
thorax, face to face, and several times drew in a long breath, then forcibly 
breathed directly into his mouth and nostrils, which expanded his 
lungs and improved his respirations. After waiting a moment I placed 
my ear over his thorax and found the action of the heart improving. 
I arose to the erect kneeling posture, then watched for a short time, 

•24 



and saw that the President could continue independent breathing and 
that instant death would not occur. 

1 then pronounced my diagnosis and prognosis : "His wound is 
mortal; it is impossible for him to recover." This message was 
telegraphed all over the country. 

When the brandy and water arrived, 1 very slowly poured a small 
quantity into the President's mouth, this was swallowed and retained. 

Many looked on during these earnest efforts to revive the Presi- 
dent, but not once did any one suggest a word or in any way interfere 
with my actions. Mrs. Lincoln had thrown the burden on me and 
sat nearby looking on. 

In the dimly lighted box of the theatre, so beautifully decorated 
with American flags, a scene of historic importance was being enacted. 
On the carpeted floor lay prostrate the President of the United States. 
His long, outstretched, athletic body of six feet four inches appeared 
unusually heroic. His bleeding head rested on my white linen hand- 
kerchief. His clothing was arranged as nicely as possible. He was 
irregularly breathing, his heart was feebly beating, his face was pale 
and in solemn repose, his eyelids were closed, his countenance made 
him appear to be in prayerful communion with the Universal God he 
always loved. I looked down upon him and waited for the next in- 
spiration, which soon came : "Remove to safety." From the time Mrs. 
Lincoln had placed the President in my charge, I had not permitted 
my attention to be diverted. Again I was asked the nature of his 
wound and replied in these exact words : "His wound is mortal ; it 
is impossible for him to recover." 

While I was kneeling over the President on the floor Dr. Charles 
S. Taft and Dr. Albert F. A. King had come and off'ered to render any 
assistance. I expressed the desire to have the President taken, as soon 
as he had gained sufficient strength, to the nearest house on the op- 
posite side of the street. I was asked by several if he could not be 
taken to the White House, but I responded that if that were attempted 
the President would die long before we reached there. While we were 
waiting for Mr. Lincoln to gain strength Laura Keene, who had been 
taking part in the play, appealed to me to allow her to hold the Presi- 
dent's head. I granted this request and she sat on the floor of the box 
and held his head on her lap. 

We decided that the President could now be moved from the pos- 
sibility of danger in the theatre to a house where we might place him 
on a bed in safety. To assist in this duty I assigned Dr. Taft to carry 
his right shoulder, Dr. King to carry his left shoulder and detailed a 
sufficient number of others, whose names I have never discovered, to 
assist in carrying the body, while I carried his head, going first. We 
reached the door of the box and saw the long passage leading to the 
exit crowded with people. I called out twice: "Guards, clear the pass- 
age ! Guards, clear the passage !" A free space was quickly cleared 
by an officer and protected by a line of soldiers in the position of 
present arms with swords, pistols and bayonets. When we reached 
the stairs, I turned so that those holding the President's feet would 
descend first. At the door of the theatre, I was again asked if the 
President could be taken to the White House. I answered : "No, the 
President would die on the way." 

The crowd in the street completely obstructed the doorway and a 
captain, whose services proved invaluable all through the night, came 
to me, saying: "Surgeon, give me your commands and I will see that 
they are obeyed." I asked him to clear a passage to the nearest house 



opposite. He had on side arms and drew his sword. With the sword 
and word of command he cleared the way. We slowly crossed the 
street. It was necessary to stop several times to give me the oppor- 
tunity to remove the clot of blood from the opening to the wound. A 
barrier of men had been formed to keep back the crowds on each side 
of an open space leading to the house. Those who went ahead reported 
that the house directly opposite the theatre was closed. I saw a man 
standing at the door of Mr. Petersen's house, diagonally opposite, hold- 
ing a lighted candle in his hand and beckoning us to enter. This we 
did, not having been interrupted in the slightest by the throngs in the 
street, but a number of the excited populace followed us into the house. 

The great difficulty of retaining life during this brief time occu- 
pied in moving the President from the theatre to Mr. Petersen's 
house, conclusively proved that the President would have died in the 
street if I had granted the request to take him such a long distance as 
to the White House. I asked for the best room and we soon had the 
President placed in bed. He was lifted to the longitudinal center of 
the bed and placed on his back. While holding his face upward and 
keeping his head from rolling to either side, I looked at his elevated 
knees caused by his great height. This uncomfortable position grieved 
me and I ordered the foot of the bed to be removed. Dr. Taft and 
Dr. King reported that it was a fixture. Then I requested that it be 
"broken off; as 1 found this could not satisfactorily be done, I had the 
President placed diagonally on the bed and called for extra pillows, 
and with them formed a gentle inclined plane on which to rest his head 
and shoulders. His position was then one of repose. 

The room soon filled with anxious people. I called the officer and 
asked him to open a window and order all except the medical gentle- 
men and friends to leave the room. After we had given the President 
a short rest I decided to make a thorough physical examination, as I 
wished to see if he had been wounded in any other part of the body. 
I requested all except the surgeons to leave the room. The Captain 
reported that my order had been carried out with the exception of 
Mrs. Lincoln, to whom he said he did not like to speak. I addressed 
Mrs. Lincoln, e.xplaining my desire, and she immediately left the room. 
I examined the President's entire body from his head to his feet and 
found no other injury. His lower extremities were very cold and 1 
sent the Hospital Steward, who had been of great assistance to us in 
removing the President from the theatre, to procure bottles of hot 
water and hot blankets, which were applied. I also sent for a large 
sinapism and in a short time one very nicely made was brought. This 
I applied over the solar-plexus and to the anterior surface of his body. 
We arranged the bed clothes nicely and I assigned Dr. Taft and Dr. 
King to keep his head upon the pillows in the most comfortable posi- 
tion, relieving each other in this duty, after which I sent an officer to 
notify Mrs. Lincoln that she might return to her husband; she came in 
and sat on a chair placed for her at the head of the bed. 

As the symptoms indicated renewed brain compression, I again 
cleared the opening of clotted blood and pushed forward the button of 
bone, which acted as a valve, permitted an oozing of blood and re- 
lieved pressure on the brain. I again saw good results from this action. 

After doing all that was professionally necessary, T stood aside for 
a general view and to think what to do next. While thus watching sev- 
eral army officers anxiously asked if they could in any way assist. I 
told them my greatest desire then was to send messengers to the White 
House for the President's son, Captain Robert T. Lincoln, also for the 
Surgeon General, Joseph K. Barnes, Surgeon D. Willard Bliss, in 

26 



charge of Armory Square General Hospital, the President's family 
physician, Dr. Robert K. Stone, and to each member of the President's 
Cabinet. All these desires of mini were fulfilled. 

Having been taught in early youth to pay great respect to all re- 
ligious denominations in regard to their rules concerning the sick or 
dying, it became my duty as surgeon in charge of the dying President 
to summon a clergyman to his bedside. Therefore after inquiring and 
being informed that the Rev. Dr. Gurley was Mrs. Lincoln's pastor, I 
immediately sent for him. 

Then I sent the Hospital Steward for a Nelaton probe. No drug 
or medicine in any form was administered to the President, but the 
artificial heat and mustard plaster that I had applied warmed his cold 
body and stimulated his nerves. Only a few were at any time admitted 
to the room by the officer, whom I had stationed at the door, and at 
all times I had maintained perfect discipline and order. 

While we were watching and letting Nature do her part, Dr. Taft 
came to me with brandy and water and asked permission to give some 
to the President. I objected, stating as my reason that it would produce 
strangulation. Dr. Taft left the room, and again came to me stating 
that it was the opinion of others also that it might do good. I replied: 
"I will grant the request, if you will please at first try by pouring only 
a very small quantity into the President's mouth." This Dr. Taft very 
carefully did, the liquid ran into the President's larynx producing laryn- 
geal obstruction and unpleasant symptoms, which took me about half 
a minute to overcome, but no lasting harm was done. My physiological 
and practical experiences had led to correct conclusions. 

On the arrival of Dr. Robert K. Stone, who had been the Presi- 
dent's family physician during his residence in Washington, I was pre- 
sented to him as the one who had been in charge since the President 
was shot. I described the wound and told him all that had been done. 
He said he approved of my treatment. 

Surgeon General Joseph K. Barnes' long delay in arriving was due 
to his going first to the White House, where he expected to find the 
assassinated President, then to the residence of Secretary Seward and 
his son, both of whom he found requiring immediate attention, as they 
had been severely wounded by the attempts of another assassin to kill 
them. 

On the arrival of the Surgeon General and Assistant Surgeon Gen- 
eral, Charles H. Crane, I reported what we had done and officially de- 
tailed to the Surgeon General my diagnosis, stating that whenever the 
clot was allowed to form over the opening to the wound the President's 
breathing became greatly embarrassed. The Surgeon General approved 
the treatment and my original plan of treatment was continued in 
every respect until the President's death. 

Tlie Hospital Steward arrived with the Nelaton probe and an ex- 
amination was made by the Surgeon General and myself, who introduced 
the probe to a distance of about two and a half inches, where it came 
in contact with a foreign substance, which lay across the track of the 
ball ; this was easily passed and the probe was introduced several inches 
further where it again touched a hard substance at first supposed to 
be the ball, but as the white porcelain bulb of the probe on its with- 
drawal did not indicate the mark of lead it was generally thought to 
be another piece of loose bone. The probe was introduced the second 
time and the ball was supposed to be distinctly felt. After this second 
exploration nothing further was done with the wound except to keep 
the opening free from coagula, which, if allowed to form and remain 

27 



for a short time, produced signs of increased compression, the breathing 
becoming profoundly stertorous and intermittent, the pulse more feeble 
and irregular. After I had resigned my charge all that was profes- 
sionally done for the President was to repeat occasionally my original 
expedient of relieving the brain pressure by freeing the opening to the 
wound and to count the pulse and respirations. The President's posi- 
tion on the bed remained exactly as 1 had first placed him with the 
assistance of Dr. Taft and Dr. King. 

Captain Robert 1 . Lincoln came and remained with his father and 
mother, bravely sustaining himself during the course of the night. 

On that awful memorable night the great War Secretary, the Hon- 
orable Edwin M. Stanton, one of the most imposing figures of the 
nineteenth century, promptly arrived and recognized at that critical 
period of our country's history the necessity of a head to our Govern- 
ment and as the President was passing away established a branch of 
his War Department in an adjoining room. There he sat, surrounded 
by his counsellors and messengers, pen in hand, writing to General Dix 
and others. He was soon in communication with many in authority 
and with the Government and army officials. By Secretary Stanton's 
wonderful ability and power in action, he undoubtedly controlled mil- 
lions of excited people. He was then the Master, and in reality Acting 
President of the United States. 

During the night Mrs. Lincoln came frequently from the adjoining 
room accompanied by a lady friend. At one time Mrs. Lincoln ex- 
claimed, sobbing bitterly: "Oh! that my little Taddy might see his 
father before he died !" This was decided not advisable. As Mrs. Lin- 
coln sat on a chair by the side of the bed with her face to her hus- 
band's his breathing became very stertorous and the loud, unnatural 
noise frightened her in her exhausted, agonized condition. She sprang 
up suddenly with a piercing cry and fell fainting to the floor. Sec- 
retary Stanton hearing her cry came in from the adjoining room and 
with raised arms called out loudly : "Take that woman out and do not 
let her in again." Mrs. Lincoln was helped up kindly and assisted in 
a fainting condition from the room. Secretary Stanton's order was 
obeyed and Mrs. Lincoln did not see her husband again before he died. 

As Captain Lincoln was consoling his mother in another room, 
and as I had promised Mrs. Lincoln to do all I possibly could for her 
husband, I took the place of kindred and continuously held the Presi- 
dent's right hand firmly, with one exception of less than a minute, 
when my sympathies compelled me to seek the disconsolate wife. I 
found her reclining in a nearby room, being comforted by her son. 
Without stopping in my walk, I passed the room where Secretary Stan- 
ton sat at liis official table and returning took the hand of the dying 
President in mine. The hand that had signed the Emancipation Proc- 
lamation liberating 4,000,000 slaves. 

As morning dawned it became quite evident that the President was 
sinking, and at several times his pulse could not be counted. Two or 
three feeble pulsations being noticed, followed by an intermission when 
not the slightest movements of the artery could be felt. The inspira- 
tions became very prolonged and labored, accompanied by a guttural 
sound. The respirations ceased for some time and several anxiously 
looked at their watches until the profound silence was disturbed by a 
prolonged inspiration, which was followed by a sonorous expiration. 

During these moments the Surgeon General occupied a chair by the 
head of the President's bed and occasionally held his finger over the 
■carotid artery to note its pulsations. Dr. Stone sat on the edge of the 
foot of the bed, and I stood holding the President's right hand with my 

28 



extended forefinger on his pulse, being the only one between the bed 
and the wall, the bed having been drawn out diagonally for that pur- 
pose. While we were anxiously watching in profound solemn silence, 
the Rev. Dr. Gurley said : "Let us pray," and offered a most impres- 
sive prayer. After which we witnessed the last struggle between Hie 
and death. 

At this time my knowledge of physiology, pathology and psychology 
told me that the President was totally blind as a result of blood press- 
ure on the brain, as indicated by the paralysis, dilated pupils, pro- 
truding and bloodshot eyes, but all the time 1 acted on the belief that 
if his sense of hearing or feehng remained, he could possibly hear me 
when I sent for his son, the voice of his wife when she spoke to him 
and that the last sound he heard, may have been his pastor's prayer, 
as he finally committed his soul to God. 

Knowledge that frequently just before departure recognition and 
reason return to those who have been unconscious caused me for sev- 
eral hours to hold his right hand firmly within my grasp to let him in 
his blindness know, if possible, that he was in touch with humanity 
and had a friend. 

The protracted struggle ceased at twenty minutes past seven o'clock 
on the morning of April 15, 1865, and I announced that the President 
was dead. 

Immediately after death the few remaining in the room knelt 
around the bed while the Rev. Dr. Gurley delivered one of the most 
impressive prayers ever uttered, that our Heavenly Father look down 
in pity upon the bereaved family and preserve our afflicted and sorrow- 
stricken country. 

Then I gently smoothed the President's contracted facial muscles, 
took two coins from my pocket, placed them over his eyelids and drew 
a white sheet over the martyr's face. I had been the means, in God's 
hand, of prolonging the life of President Abraham Lincoln for nine 
hours. 

Every necessary act of love, devotion, skill and loyalty had been 
rendered during his helpless hours to the President of the United 
States, the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, to the be- 
loved of millions of people throughout the world. 

Many reported, anxious in any way to be of service. I accepted 
their offers to the extent of abundantly filling every want. Of all the 
people I have met in different parts of the world, I have found that as 
a class, good Americans are not to be excelled when occasions demand, 
in strength, endurance, calmness, good judgment, ardent loyal devotion 
and self-sacrificing love. 

By prolonging the life of President Lincoln, his son Robert, whom 
I sent for, was enabled to see his father alive. Physicians and surgeons, 
lawyer and clergyman, whom I sent for, visited the President and were 
given time to deliberate. Members of the Cabinet, whom I sent for 
with soldiers and sailors and friends, had the opportunity to surround 
him. Millions of dangerous, excited and disappointed people were 
morally dissuaded from acts of discord. The nation was held in sup- 
pressed, sympathetic suspense and control, when the people heard that 
the President was living, though severely wounded and dying. 

Before the people had time to realize the situation there was an- 
other President of the United States and the grandeur of the continuity 
of the Republic was confirmed. 

After all was over, and as I stood by the side of the covered mor- 
tal remains I thought: "You have fulfilled your promise to the wife, 
your duty now is to the many living, suffering, wounded officers com- 

29 



mitted to your care in your ward at Armory Square General Hospital, 
and I left the house in deep meditation. In my lonely walk I was 
aroused from my reveries by the cold drizzling rain dropping on my 
bare head, my hat I had left in my seat at the theatre. My clothing 
was stained with blood, I had not once been seated since I first sprang 
to the President's aid ; I was cold, weary and sad. The dawn of peace 
was again clouded, the most cruel war in history had not completely 
ended. Our long sorrowing country vividly came before me as I 
thought how essential it was to have an organization composed of re- 
turning soldiers to guard and protect the officers of state and uphold 
the Constitution. This great need was simultaneously recognized by 
others, for on that day, April 15, 1865, there assembled at Philadelphia 
a few army officers for that purpose and originated the Military Order 
of the Loyal Legion of the United States. 

Among the archives of our organization, the Military Order of the 
Loyal Legion of the United States, we have recorded : — 
ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

President of the United States, March 4, 1861, to April 15, 1865. 

Born February 12, i8og, Hardin (La Rue County), Kentucky. 

Assassinated April 14, 1865; died April 15, 1865, at Washington, B.C. 

Enrolled by Special Resolution, to date from April 15, 1865. 

I herewith give in the order in which they arrived, the names of the 
physicians and surgeons, and the clergyman whom I recognized as taking 
a professional part in the physical, mental or spiritual welfare of the 
President from the time he was shot until his death. The first person to 
enter the box after the President was shot, and who took charge of 
him at the request of Mrs. Lincoln, was myself, Charles A. Leale, 
M. D., Assistant Surgeon, United States Volunteers and the surgeon 
in charge of the ward containing the wounded commissioned officers 
at the United States Army General Hospital, Armory Square, Wash- 
ington, D. C. The next who reported and simultaneously offered their 
services to me, which were accepted, were Charles S. Taft, M. D., 
Acting Assistant Surgeon, United States Army, and Albert F. A. King, 
M. D., Acting Assistant Surgeon, United States Army. Then appar- 
ently a very long time after we had cared for the President in Mr. 
Petersen's house, and in response to the numerous messengers whom 
I had sent, there arrived Robert K. Stone, M. D., Mrs. Lincoln's family 
physician : Joseph K. Barnes. M. D.. Surgeon General, United States 
Army; Charles H. Crane, M. D., Assistant Surgeon General, United 
States Army, and the Rev. Dr. Gurley, Mrs. Lincoln's pastor. During 
the night several other physicians unknown to me called, and through 
courtesy I permitted some of them to feel the President's pulse, but 
none of them touched the wound. 

Later in the forenoon as I was in the midst of important surgical 
duties at our hospital, I was notified by my lady nurse that a messenger 
had called inviting me to be present at the necropsy. Later a doctor 
called for the same purpose. I respectfully asked to be excused, as 
I did not dare to leave the large number of severely wounded expecting 
my usual personal care. I was fearful that the shock of hearing of 
the sudden death of the President might cause trouble in their de- 
pressed painful conditions. 

One of my patients was profoundly depressed. He said to me: 
"Doctor, all we have fought for is gone. Our country is destroyed, 
and I want to die." This officer the day before was safely recovering 
from an amputation. I called my lady nurse, "Please closely watch 
Lieutenant ; cheer him as much as possible, and give him two 

30 



ounces of wine every two hours," etc., etc. This brave soldier received 
the greatest kindness and skillful care, but he would not rally from the 
shock and died in a short time. 

Among my relics 1 have a photograph taken a few days later in 
full staff uniform as I appeared at the obsequies. The crape has never 
been removed from my sword. I have my cuffs stained with the mar- 
tyr's blood, also my card of invitation to the funeral services, held on 
Wednesday, April 19, which 1 attended, having been assigned a place 
at the head of the coffin at the White House, and a carriage immediately 
preceding the catafalque in the grand funeral procession from the 
White House to tiie Capitol; where during the public ceremonies I 
was assigned to a place at the head of the casket as it rested beneath 
the rotunda. 

One of the most devoted of those who remained in the room with 
the dying President was Senator Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts. 
He visited me subsequently and said : "Dr. Leale, do you remember 
that I remained all the time until President Lincoln died?" Senator 
Sumner was profoundly affected by this great calamity to both North 
and South. 

On my visit to Secretary Seward some time after the President's 
death, he was still suffering from his fracture and from the brutal 
attacks of the assassin, who made such a desperate attempt to kill him 
on that fatal night. 

When I again met Secretary Stanton we sat alone in his private 
office. He was doing his utmost to continue what he deemed best for 
our country. The long continued strain and great burden had left their 
deep impress upon him. At the close of my call we shook hands fra- 
ternally. 

After the war had closed Governor Fenton, of New York State, 
one of the "War Governors," came to me and said : "Dr. Leale, 1 
will give you anything possible within my power." I responded: "I 
sincerely thank you. Governor; but I desire nothing, as I wish to fol- 
low my mission in life." 

The city of Washington was wrapped in a mantle of gloom. The 
President had known his people and had a heart full of love for his 
soldiers and sailors. With "malice toward none" he alone seemed to 
have the power to restore fraternal love. He alone appeared able to 
quickly heal his country's wound. 

In May there occurred in Washington one of the most pathetic 
and historic events, the return of the Northern Army for the final 
review of more than 70,000 veterans. A grandstand had been erected 
in front of the White House for the new" President, his Cabinet, Offi- 
cers of State, Foreign Ministers and others. I had a seat on this grand- 
stand, from which on May 24th we watched one of the most imposing 
parades recorded in history. Among the many heroes, I recall the 
passing of stately General William Tecumseh Sherman on his majestic 
horse, which had been garlanded with roses. After we had been sit- 
ting there for several hours a foreign official tapped me on the shoulder 
and said : "What will become of these thousands of soldiers after their 
discharge?" I answered: "They will return to their homes all over 
the country and soon be at work doing their utmost to pay off the 
national debt." He replied: "Is it possible! No other country could 
expect such a result." 

All had lost comrades, many were to return to desolate and broken 
homes. Amidst all the grandeur of victory there was profound sorrow. 
Among the thousands of passing veterans, there were many who looked 
for their former Commander-in-Chief, but their "Father Abraham" had 
answered to his last bugle call and with more than 300.000 comrades 
had been mustered out. 



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